All's Fair
by BLeigh93
Summary: Sora Yamamoto was no one in the real world. Shy and overlooked. Online, however, she was Akiko - a fierce warrior. People knew her as the antisocial solo fighter with a bad attitude, but at least people knew who she was. And that's how she liked it. This is the story of her time trapped in Aincrad, with all the drama, lies, concealed identities, and tragedy it entailed.
1. Prologue

**So this is my first fanfic for SAO. I had a dream about this the other night, then decided it would make for an interesting story, so I set to writing it before I could forget the details. I hope you enjoy what I have to offer.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online. Just my character.**

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What would you do if one day you were given the opportunity to change whom you were? To get a fresh start, in a new world, where no one knew your real name, what you looked like, or your personality traits? You could alter yourself to the point which looking back, you could not even recognize yourself.

Sword Art Online was that opportunity for me.

Offline I was shy, glasses wearing, workaholic, bookworm, Sora Yamamoto. Online, I was sword wielding, witty, badass, Akiko. I liked my avatar more than I liked myself. Mostly because people didn't pity Akiko. People pitied Sora. She lost her mom at an early age. She had no friends. She was blind in one eye. All she did was work; she got excellent grades, but what were grades outside of school?

The people that didn't pity Sora _didn't even know who she was._

That was why when Sword Art Online was first released I tried to become a beta tester – and I got accepted. I didn't have any siblings, and my father was never home, so no one would miss me if I disappeared into a virtual world for a few hours. I would log on as soon as I finished any schoolwork, and I would remain there until it was time for me to eat dinner. Then I would usually log back on for a few more hours before going to sleep for the night.

My avatar started out blonde. Blondes have more fun, they always said. She was petite; her hair was long and her skin was flawless. She was curvy in all the right places. She was beautiful. Most importantly, she could see out of both eyes. I might have had a bit too much fun customizing my avatar, but I wanted to be someone special for once.

I leveled up fairly quickly. I had even made it to floor 11 by the end of the beta testing period. People respected me online.

Then everything changed the day the 10,000 new players logged on. The game master trapped us inside the game. We couldn't log out. We had to beat the game if we wanted to survive – we could _die_ in the game.

The worst part though was the mirror. When my appearance changed to reflect my real world body, I was devastated. Not necessarily because I would miss the way my avatar had looked, but because now others could see me as I truly was. I was too tall, all limbs and no curves. My hair was short, a shoulder length bob – I had cut it when I was young and regretted it ever since – and a dull, dark brown color with blunt bangs. One of my eyes was a forest green color; the other (in which I was blind) was a greyish silver. I had lost my sight in that eye in the same car accident that had taken my mother's life.

I snuck out of the town center as soon as the game master finished his speech. While everyone was panicking, I was looking for cover. I knew others from my school were part of the game, and I did not want them to see me. I ran through the streets of markets, eventually finding a black sheet hanging from a railing above a vendor's cart. I wrapped it around my hair and across my mouth, hiding most of my face. It wasn't much, but it was a start.

Thus began my year and a half trapped in the world of Sword Art Online.

You might now be thinking, one and a half years, but weren't those poor people imprisoned in Aincrad for two years? If you are, then yes, I _was_ only there for a year and a half.

I never returned to my real life.

I died in Aincrad.

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**End of prologue. I hope this turned out as well as I hoped it would. I will try to update it as often as possible, but it is one of three stories I am currently working on (the other two are Ouran High School Host Club stories, so if you know that anime, you should go check those out too END OF SHAMELESS STORY PLUG). **

**But let me know what you think so far, if you are interested, and if I should keep it going or not.**


	2. Chapter 1

**This took me a little longer to write than I would have liked, but I think I finally know where I want this story to go. So, enjoy chapter 1!**

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Now I bet you're wondering two things. One, how did she die? I'll get to that in due time. And two, if she's dead, how is she telling me this? To answer that, I'm not quite sure myself. I don't know if I am in heaven, or hell. Maybe I'm still in purgatory waiting for my sentence. All I know is that after dying in Aincrad, I woke up here, in this endless white space, with a pen and paper.

_What am I supposed to do with this? _I wondered. I was probably meant to write to any loved ones, but my only "loved one" was my father, and at that he probably couldn't care that I was dead. We had a…strained relationship to say the least. So instead, I decided to write a story of sorts, about my life in Aincrad and eventually how I died. See, I told you I was going to get to it in due time.

I guess I should start from where I left off, from before I dropped the bomb on you that I'm dead. I had just told you about finding my makeshift "hood". The next bit of the story isn't that exciting. The beginning of our imprisonment in the game was filled with panic and fear, if you had not already guessed as much. No one quite knew how to handle the situation we had been unceremoniously thrown into.

I actually handled it pretty well, all things considered. My life in Japan was nothing special, so I was not missing anything in the real world. Anyway, after spending so much time in Aincrad during the beta testing period, Aincrad had become a real world to me. I knew the nooks and crannies and could maneuver the grounds with my eyes closed. Granted, now one of my eyes was technically always closed now (blind in one eye – remember?), but that's beside the point.

Well, now I'm off track. Where was I? Oh right. My "hood". I knew this wouldn't last well for me. I needed something a bit more secure. All players on launch day had started in similar fashion – a nondescript breastplate over a nondescript shirt, and pants or a skirt depending on our gender. As we began our new lives, however, we began to customize again. This was one of my first priorities, bearing in mind I wanted to hide as much of my original identity as possible.

Eventually, I wound up with a legitimate black hood and a mouth cover. Clad in black leather pants, a tight black long-sleeved shirt, black army boots, black fingerless gloves, and a black steel corset, I considered myself to look pretty fierce. Also, covered in head to toe black meant I could more easily move around hidden in the shadows.

I started with a simple sword, not one I particularly liked, but it was what I could afford at the time. After a while though I had managed to collect a decent amount of Col from hunts, so I traded in for a new blade. I went with a double-ended sword. I named it Isamu, meaning courage and bravery, something I could have always used more of. I also picked up a dagger over time, which I carried in a hilt attached to my left thigh.

I spent the first nine months or so as a solo player. I tried to distance myself from the other players as much as possible, though with my high skill level, distinct look, and solo player/beater status my reputation preceded me. I also developed quite a temper and bad attitude while in Aincrad. Overall, this led to people avoiding me on the rare occasions when I came into town.

I ate only when hunger and thirst kept me from fighting. I slept only when fatigue threatened to lower my capabilities in battle. I _never_ let my guard down. This was how I chose to live. Even though I had nothing in the real world to fight for, I was determined to defeat Sword Art Online swiftly to help the others get back to reality.

I like to think I would have succeeded eventually if I had not seen him that day. Kirigaya Kazuto, or Kirito as the other players knew him.

I went to school with Kazuto in the real world, which was how I recognized him in the game. I had heard of the player "Kirito" long before I saw him. His reputation as another solo player and beater, like me, meant a lot of people would ask me if I knew him. Considering I spent most of my time hiding out in fields and caves, I didn't personally know many of the players, so of course I didn't know this other mysterious character.

I ran into him the first time about six months in to the game. He had just joined a guild; I think they were called the "Moonlit Black Cats", or something like that. I was taking one of my rare breaks to get food when he and the guild walked into the inn. They were all chattering, most of the conversation revolving around how "Kirito" had just saved them all. I recognized him right away and my heart sped up immediately. I had been unaware until that point that he was part of the game. It was at this moment that the game took on an entirely new meaning. I was more determined than ever to beat the game, if not for all the other players to live, than at least for Kazuto to return to existence.

Oh, I guess I should mention now, considering it's rather important for the rest of the story…I might have had more than a slight crush on Kazuto back at school.

Yes, yes, I might have been Akiko in this world, but inside I was still Sora, the girl with a silly more-than-crush. And this silly more-than-crush made me want to protect Kazuto. I shook my head to get the idea out, though. He didn't need my protection, plus he had his guild to watch his back.

Anyway, like I said up until this point I had never seen "Kirito", only heard of him. So I was a little taken aback when this fierce player I had been hearing about was in reality Kazuto, the sweet guy from my school. _I guess I'm not the only one who the game has changed _I remember thinking. As they drank and congratulated each other on making it through another day alive, I was sitting in my corner deciding whether or not it was a stupid idea to linger where he might see me.

Eventually, I decided to stay and listen in – see if I could find out anymore about how he had been since coming to Aincrad. I didn't learn much and soon enough they were all finishing up and leaving to turn in for the night. My eyes followed them as they walked towards the door. Kazuto must have felt my gaze on him because at that moment he turned and looked me directly in the eyes. His eyes narrowed as he took me in. He looked pensive, and I became nervous. _Does he recognize my eyes? They are pretty distinct._ But then his group called to him and he hurried out the door.

I didn't see him again for another two months. I was just finishing up an easy fight with some wolves, just keeping my skills fresh, when I heard someone approaching. I darted to the nearest tree and skillfully climbed its branches, hiding amongst the greenery. I peered out and was startled to see Kazuto by himself. He was muttering to himself, clenching and unclenching his fists. Suddenly he burst out and punched the tree I was hiding in. I held my breath so he wouldn't hear me. When I didn't hear any more movement, I carefully pushed aside the leaves again to see if he had moved on. Instead of seeing his retreating form, I saw he had slid his back down the trunk of the tree and was sitting with his head in his hands. Even from my viewpoint I could see his shoulders slightly shaking. He was crying?

I wasn't sure how to handle a crying boy. So I stayed in my hiding spot, just watching over him. I think I heard him whisper someone's name a few times, something that sounded like "Sachi", and then "I'm sorry". I didn't know who he was talking about, or why he was sorry, but his sadness was pulling at my heartstrings. I wanted desperately to comfort him somehow, but I knew that was impossible if I wanted to keep my identity a secret. I resigned myself to keeping a post over him as his shoulders stopped shaking and he instead slumped forward, weary with sleep. As he slumbered against the trunk of the tree, I sat, thinking about life. I know, cliché, but in a place like Aincrad, people tended to think about life a lot. Mostly, how much longer would their life be theirs?

A few hours later, he shook awake. He picked himself up and with one last sigh he continued on his way. The next time I would see him, we would be meeting face to face. The next time, our lives would change forever.

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**A/N: From here on out, she will be writing in more of a story form, rather than a memoir. Since she will no longer be by herself all the time, there will be more of a chance for dialogue. **

**As always, review and let me know how I'm doing...what you liked, disliked, etc.**

**Also, I described Akiko/Sora's appearance in the game during this chapter. If you want to see an image that is very similar to what I described, you can either click on the stories cover image, or there will be a link to a larger photo on my account page!**


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